The use of a mixing-sensitive chemical reaction for the study of pulp fibre suspension mixing

The competitive, consecutive chemical reactions between 1-naphthol and diazotized sulfanilic acid were utilized to study the mixing of a pulp fibre suspension in a 22 L stirred tank reactor. Mixing quality was determined from the distribution between the mono and bis substituted reaction products once a correlation was made for the adsorption of the product dyes onto the suspended fibres. The technique was found to be adequate for assessing micromixing and turbulence intensity within a fibre suspension provided the measured product distribution, Xs, was between 0.4 and 0.01. Thus the mixing conditions that could be assessed depended on both the energy dissipation within the mixer and the amount of the fibre present. For the experimental conditions chosen for this study energy dissipation rates would typically have to be less than 80 W/kg and the suspension mass concentration less than 2.5%. When compared with water, a reduction in turbulence levels at both the impeller zone and a remote zone in the stirred vessel was observed for fibre mass concentrations as low as 0.5%. The turbulence decreased as the suspension mass concentration was increased. This decrease is attributed to energy dissipation by friction at fibre-fibre contact points as the fibres move relative to one another in the flow. This sink removes energy from the turbulence cascade which never shows up as small-scale fluid deformations leading to better mixing.     

The use of mixing-sensitive chemical reactions to study mixing in dispersed fibre systems: Adsorption of reactants and product dyes on the dispersed phase

Mixing-sensitive chemical reactions conducted under controlled conditions can be used to qualitatively and quantitatively assess mixing in aqueous systems. These reactions are typically competitive reactions where the distribution of products is used to quantify mixing. This technique is valuable for studying both mixing and local energy dissipation in dispersed systems where the opacity of the suspension prevents the use of other techniques. However, correct interpretation of the test results requires that adsorption of reactants and product dyes on the dispersed phase be known. The adsorption of the reactants and product dyes formed in the mixing-sensitive azo coupling between mixtures of 1- and 2- naphthol and diazotized sulfanilic acid was measured in aqueous suspensions of nylon, polyethylene, fibreglass and kraft pulp fibres. The polyethylene fibre did not adsorb the reactants or product dyes. The nylon, fibreglass and kraft fibres adsorbed both reactants and product dyes, with adsorption described by Langmuir isotherms. Accounting for the adsorption of dye on the dispersed phase allowed correct interpretation of mixing in the aqueous phase of the dispersions. This technique is evaluated for mixing assessment in suspensions of nylon fibre and fully bleached kraft (FBK) pulp in a medium-intensity mixer.     

Cavern formation in pulp suspensions using side-entering axial-flow impellers

Pulp fibre suspensions display non-Newtonian rheology, including a yield stress. In mixing operations, this creates regions of active motion around the impellers with the cavern size affecting the quality of mixing attained. Due to the opacity of the suspensions, two non-invasive techniques were evaluated for determining cavern dimensions: electrical resistance tomography (ERT) and ultrasonic Doppler velocimetry (UDV), with ERT chosen for most tests due to the speed of data acquisition. Cavern volume as a function of impeller speed is reported for a range of mixing conditions (hardwood and softwood pulp, suspension mass concentrations from one to five percent, two impeller offsets from the wall, and three suspension height-to-chest diameter ratios). A scaled version of a commercial axial flow impeller was used in a standard side-entering configuration. Measured cavern diameters were compared against model predictions available in the literature. The discrepancy between experimental data and model predictions were significant and were attributed to interaction between the developing cavern and the vessel walls. An alternative model was developed for predicting cavern volume taking this interaction into account.     

CFD analysis of turbulence non-homogeneity in mixing vessels: A two-compartment model

A two-compartment model has been developed for calculating the droplet/particle size distribution in suspension polymerization reactors by taking into account the large spatial variations of the turbulent kinetic energy and its dissipation rate in the vessel. The two-compartment model comprised two mixing zones, namely an impeller zone of high local energy dissipation rates and a circulation zone of low kinetic energy. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed for generating the spatial distribution of energy dissipation rates within an unbaffled mixing vessel agitated by a flat two-blade impeller. A general methodology was developed for extracting, from the results of the CFD simulations, the volume ratio of the impeller over the circulation zone, the ratio of the average turbulent dissipation rates in the two zones, and the exchange flow rate between the two compartments. The effect of agitation rate, continuous phase viscosity, impeller diameter, and mixing vessel scale on the two-compartment model parameters was elucidated. The two-compartment model was then applied to a non-homogeneous liquid-liquid dispersion process to calculate the time evolution of the droplet size distribution in the mixing vessel. An excellent agreement was obtained between theoretical and experimental results on droplet size distributions obtained from a laboratory-scale reactor operated over a wide range of experimental conditions.     

刚柔组合搅拌桨与刚性桨调控流场结构的对比

高黏度流体处于层流状态时,普遍存在的混合隔离区,降低了流体的混合效率。减小或消除隔离区,是实现流体高效混合的基本途径。采用实验研究与数值模拟相结合的方法,对刚性六直叶涡轮桨（刚性桨）和刚柔组合六直叶涡轮桨（组合桨）的流场结构进行研究,对比分析了两种桨叶在相同功耗（3 kW·m^-3）时的轴向、径向和切向的速度矢量图、速度云图以及速度分布散点图。结果表明,刚性桨的能量集中在桨叶尖端部分,远离桨叶区域的流体速度很小甚至为0 m·s^-1;而组合桨可将能量从桨叶尖端扩散至全槽,使槽内流体均具有一定的流速,提高了混合效率,且显色实验与数值模拟结果一致,组合桨体系的混合隔离区在短时间内就可消除,混合良好,而刚性桨体系的混合隔离区始终存在,混合效果不佳。     

LDA Measurements on a Turbulent Gas/Liquid/Fibre Suspension

Detailed continuous phase flow measurements (mean and RMS velocities) by Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) of a turbulent gas/fibre/liquid suspension in a rotary shear tester have been performed with simultaneous torque measurements. The model system comprises a refractive‐index matched suspension in the 4‐12% wt. range with gas contents up to 15% vol. The two transition points, found by Andersson and Rasmuson (2000), were detected also with gas present and appear at higher impeller speeds with increasing gas and fibre concentrations. Plotting RMS and mean velocities versus impeller speed and power input, it is found that both decrease with increasing gas and fibre contents.     

Flow,suspension and mixing dynamics in DASGIP bioreactors,Part 2

This work aims to characterize the mixing and suspension dynamics occurring within two commercially available DASGIP bioreactor configurations, equipped with a two-blade paddle impeller with large impeller to tank diameter ratio, D/T = 0.97. Both continuous and intermittent agitation modes were employed to determine the impact that agitation strategy has upon mass transfer and microcarrier settling/suspension. This paper builds upon the flow dynamics data presented in Part 1 for a flat bottom DASGIP bioreactor and shows how intermittent agitation can break-up regions of slow mixing observed during continuous agitation, therefore substantially increasing the mixing efficiency of the system. Similarly, it was found that microcarrier characteristics might significantly affect the level of suspension when the impeller is in dwell status when intermittent agitation modes are used.     

MIXING IN CLOSED VESSELS - SUSPENSION OF SOLID PARTICLES AND POWER DEMAND

The suspension of solid material in a closed vessel has been studied. The vessel was designed as a pressure vessel having dished ends. Both the impeller speed at the off-bottom suspension point as well as the power demand related to this speed have been determined. In the study, emphasis was placed on studying the influence of both form and position of the baffles

It was found that a new dimensionless number, designed to describe the phenomena related to the suspension of particles, is a function of the impeller Reynolds number at the off-bottom suspension point. The impeller Reynolds number was varied between 10000 and 800000

Based on the results of this study, it can be stated that the design and position of the baffles are of great importance in minimizing the power demand in the suspension of particles. At the off-bottom suspension point, the power demand was lower for solid baffles when compared with baffles constructed of rods.     

Investigation of impeller modification and eccentricity for non-Newtonian fluid mixing in stirred vessels

A shear thinning fluid (1% carboxymethyl cellulose) was used to investigate mixing under laminar flow conditions in an unbaffled vessel. The effects of impeller modification in addition to eccentricity were studied. Quantitative measurements such as percentage of uncovered area and coefficient of variance (CoV) of a tracer solution distributed inside the vessel were obtained using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) method. Increased eccentricity was found to be more effective than increasing rpm alone in reducing isolated mixing regions size (determined by the percentage of uncovered area). The dual-flow pitched blade turbine (DF-PBT), which was the modified version of a standard pitched blade turbine (PBT), was designed to provide both upward and downward flow at the same time to induce more chaotic flow. Though numerical analysis showed this type of flow generated, DF-PBT did not return lower values for the percentage of uncovered area and CoV than PBT did. Power consumption data were also compared between the two impeller types and eccentric locations. Further analyses focusing on the interactions between the impeller blades and fluid rheology is needed to improve laminar mixing in stirred vessels by impeller modification.     

THE GROWTH OF CAVERNS FORMED AROUND ROTATING IMPELLERS DURING THE MIXING OF A YIELD STRESS FLUID

The growth of caverns, formed around rotating impellers in a yield stress fluid during mixing in a stirred vessel, has been studied by observing impeller speeds at which fluid motion was first observed at the vessel's wall and base, and at the free liquid surface. The effect of impeller geometry has been studied with a disk turbine (DT), a two bladed paddle (2BP), a pitched blade turbine (PBT) and a marine propeller (MP).

The presence of four baffles (10%) was found to increase the impeller speed at which the cavern reaches the vessel wall by 9% on average over that observed without baffles. After the cavern has reached the vessel walls, impeller type had a small effect upon the vertical expansion of the cavern with increasing impeller speed. Radial flow impellers (DT and 2BP), on average, performed better than an axial flow impeller (MP), with a mixed flow impeller (PBT) in between. Baffles significantly reduce the rate of this vertical expansion of the cavern. Clearance of the impeller from the vessel base had little effect upon the growth of the cavern above the impeller.     

Numerical investigation of granular mixing in an intensive mixer:Effect of process and structural parameters on mixing performance and power consumption

Discrete element method (DEM) simulations of particle mixing process in an intensive mixer were con-ducted to study the influence of structural and process parameters on the mixing performance and power consumption. The DEM model was verified by comparing the impeller torque obtained from simulation with that from experiment. Impeller and vessel torque, coordination number (CN) and mixing index (Relative standard deviation) were adopted to qualify the particle dynamics and mixing performance with different parameters. A method based on cubic polynomial fitting was proposed to determine the critical mixing time and critical specific input work during the mixing process. It is found that the mixing performance and energy efficiency increases with the decrease of impeller offset. The mixing perfor-mance is improved slightly with the increase of blade number and the impeller with 3 blades has the highest energy efficiency due to its low input torque. Results indicate that the energy efficiency and the mixing performance increase with the decrease of filling level when the height of granular bed is higher than that of blade.     

CFD simulation of impeller shape effect on quality of mixing in two-phase gas–liquid agitated vessel

Mixing efficiency in two-phase gas-liquid agitated vessel is one of the important challenges in the industrial processes. Computational fluid dynamics technique (CFD) was used to investigate the effect of four different pitched blade impellers, including 15°, 30°, 45° and 60°, on the mixing quality of gas-liquid agitated vessel. The multiphase flow behavior was modeled by Eulerian-Eulerian multiphase approach, and RNG k-ε was used to model the turbulence. The CFD results showed that a strong global vortex plays the main role on the mixing quality of the gas phase in the vessel. Based on the standard deviation criterion, it was observed that the axial distribution of the gas phase in the 30° impeller is about 55% better than the others. In addition, the results showed that the 30° impeller has a uniform radial distribution over the other impellers and the maximum gas phase holdup in the vessel. Investigation of the power consumption of the impellers showed that the 30° impeller has the highest power consumption among the other pitched blade impellers. Also, examine the effect of same power condition for pitched blade impellers showed that the 30° impeller has the best mixing quality in this condition.     

翼形桨在气液固三相搅拌反应釜中的混合性能

<正>机械搅拌槽中高速旋转的叶轮产生的排出流中,径向速度主要用于气体的剪切分散,而其轴向速度是固体悬浮和液相轴向混合的主要动力。三相体系的混合不仅要求叶轮具有较强的径向剪切分散能力,而且要有一定的轴向混合能力,以此达到对气体和固体的同时分散。理想的混合水平不仅要求达到二者在宏观上的均匀,而且在微观混合上也要达到一定的均匀度,为此对搅拌桨的设计提出了较高的要求。在气液二相的混合操作中比较多的采用了盘式涡轮桨,而在液固二相的混合操作中比较多的使用螺旋桨,这都是为了利用各自不同的混合优势。涉及到气液固三相混合,由于气体和固体的分散是一个相互制约的问题,完全的径向     

MIXING CHARACTERISTICS IN SLURRY STIRRED TANK REACTORS WITH MULTIPLE IMPELLERS

Hydrodynamic parameters such as power consumption, gas holdup, critical impeller speed for solid suspension and mixing time were measured in slurry stirred tank reactors with multiple impellers. The experiments were mainly conducted in a stirred tank of 0.2mi.d. with baffles. It contained two four-pitched blade downflow turbines for gas dispersion and one Pfaudler type impeller for solid suspension. As a part of scaling studies, additional experiments were also carried out in a larger stirred tank reactor (0,8m i.d.) geometrically similar to the smaller one. Glass beads and polymeric particles were used as a solid phase. Solid concentration was in the range of 0-20% (K/K). Tap water and methanol were used as a liquid phase

The power consumption decreased due to an introduction of gas and the presence of solids caused a decrease in the extent of reduction in power consumption. A correlation for power consumption in aerated slurry systems was proposed, It was found that the presence of solids is responsible for a decrease in gas holdup. A new correlation for gas holdup in gas-liquid-solid three-phase stirred tank reactors was developed. It fit the present experimental data reasonably. The critical impeller speed for solid suspensions increased with increasing gas flow rate. However, its increase was rather smaller as compared with the predictions of the correlations available in the literature. We proposed a correlation of the critical impeller speed for solid suspension in the presence of gas. The mixing time complicatedly increased or decreased depending on gas flow rate, impeller speed, solids type and concentration.     

Experiment and numerical simulation of chaotic mixing performance enhanced by perturbed rigid-flexible impeller in stirred tank

To eliminate the isolated mixing regions in the stirred tank, factors associated with chaotic mixing performance were studied, including flow field structure and fluid velocity of rigid RT impeller (R-RT), perturbed rigid RT impeller (PR-RT) and perturbed rigid-flexible RT impeller (PRF-RT). The maximum Lyapunov exponent (LLE) and multi-scale entropy (MSE) were calculated by using Matlab software programming, and the differences in flow field structure and fluid velocity of the three blade systems were studied through computational fluid mechanics. The experimental and computational results showed that perturbed rigid-flexible RT impeller could destroy the boundary of the mesostatic flow field in the isolated mixing regions and the symmetry flow in the process of fluid mixing through the random disturbance of the flexible blade, eliminating the isolated mixing regions. At 90 r/min, the LLE of the perturbed rigid-flexible RT impeller is larger than that of rigid RT impeller and perturbed rigid RT impeller. The LLE of the rigid-flexible RT impeller compared with the rigid RT impeller and perturbed rigid RT impeller increases 13.29% and 7.25% respectively and the MSE of the perturbed rigid-flexible RT impeller is also larger than that of rigid RT impeller and perturbed rigid RT impeller. The perturbed rigid-flexible RT impeller enhances the flow field instability, forms an asymmetric flow field structure, and reduces the distribution range of isolated mixing regions. The perturbed rigid-flexible RT impeller enhances the energy dissipation of the blade, improves the fluid velocity at the bottom and top of the tank and the wall of the tank, and reduces the mixing time.     

Unsteady Mixing Characteristics in a Vessel with Forward‐Reverse Rotating Impeller

Usually, mixing is carried out in a vessel with four baffles and a single impeller. In some applications, however, the use of a baffled vessel is not recommended. One of the stirring methods used instead is unsteady agitation with forward‐reverse rotating impellers. The aim of this work was to characterize the agitation characteristics in a baffled and an unbaffled vessel with a turbine impeller. Mixing time and mixing power were evaluated in relation to the presence of baffles and the frequency of forward‐reverse rotation. It was found that the frequency of oscillation does not affect either the mixing time and mixing power values or the drag and added mass coefficients. Power requirements and mixing time were higher compared to the steady mixing conditions in a baffled vessel. The results showed that it is not recommended to use baffles because they have no influence on unsteady mixing.     

错位刚柔桨强化搅拌槽内流体混合实验及数值模拟

为消除搅拌反应器中混合隔离区,对标准刚性桨（R-RT）、错位刚性桨（PR-RT）和错位刚柔桨（PRF-RT）三种桨叶体系的流体混沌特性参数、流场结构以及流体运动速度进行了探讨。采用Matlab软件编程计算最大Lyapunov指数（LLE）和多尺度熵（MSE）,通过计算流体力学研究了三种桨叶体系流场结构和流体运动速度的差异。实验及计算结果表明,错位刚柔桨通过柔性桨叶的随机扰动破坏了隔离区介稳态流场边界,较大程度地消除了混合隔离区。PRF-RT的LLE相比于R-RT和PR-RT分别提高了13.29%和7.25%,MSE也较PR-RT和R-RT大;PRF-RT增强了流场不稳定性,形成了不对称性流场结构,减少了隔离区分布范围;PRF-RT强化桨叶能量耗散,提高了搅拌槽底部、顶部液面以及搅拌槽壁区域流体运动速度,减小了流体混合时间。     

Agitation requirements for complete solid suspension in an unbaffled agitated vessel with an unsteadily forward–reverse rotating impeller

Background: To develop a new type of solid–liquid apparatus, we have proposed the application of an agitation system with an impeller whose rotation alternates direction unsteadily, i.e., a forward–reverse rotating impeller. For an unbaffled agitated vessel fitted with this system, the suspension of solid particles in a liquid was studied using a disk turbine impeller with six flat blades. Results: The effects of the solid–liquid conditions and geometrical conditions of the apparatus on the minimum rotation rate and the corresponding impeller power consumption were evaluated experimentally for a completely suspended solid. The power consumption for a just suspended solid with this type of vessel was comparable with that for a baffled vessel with a unidirectionally rotating impeller, taking the liquid flow along the vessel bottom into consideration. Conclusion: Empirical relationships to predict the parameters of agitation requirements were found. A comparative investigation demonstrated the usefulness of the forward–reverse rotation mode of the impeller for off‐bottom suspension of solid particles. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

单层钢丝柔性桨强化搅拌槽中流体混沌混合行为

实验运用扭矩传感器测量搅拌功率特性,Matlab软件编程计算最大Lyapunov指数（LE_max）,流场可视化技术观测流体混合状态。研究了桨叶类型、桨叶离底距离、柔性钢丝长度、柔性钢丝直径对混合效率数（C_e）、LE_max的影响。结果表明：单层钢丝柔性桨通过刚-柔-流耦合作用,改变流场结构和能量耗散方式,提高了流体混沌混合程度,实现了流体的高效节能混合;当转速为120 r·min⁻¹时,与传统刚性桨相比,单层钢丝柔性桨使流体C_e减小了87.4%,LE_max增大了53.2%,与单层钢丝刚性桨相比,单层钢丝柔性桨使流体C_e减小了43.8%,LE_max增大了10.8%。另外,当搅拌转速相同时,柔性钢丝越长,越有利于流体混沌混合,但其功耗也会随之明显增加;当柔性钢丝直径为0.8 mm,桨叶离底距离为0.25T（T为搅拌槽内径）时,各个转速对应的C_e小于其他情况、LE_max大于其他情况,流体达到相对最佳混沌混合状态。     

Suspension pattern and rising height of sedimentary particles with low concentration in a mechanically stirred vessel

In this study, the effects of impeller rotation speed, off‐bottom clearance, blade angle, types of solid and liquid, etc., on the suspension pattern of sedimentary particles and particle rise height in liquid were investigated with a hemispherical vessel without baffles under low particle concentration. The transition conditions of suspension pattern between regimes I and II, and regimes II and III, were observed visually, and their non‐dimensional equations were expressed with an acceptable correlation by varying the above operation factors a great deal. Here, regime I is stagnation of particles on a vessel bottom, II is partial suspension, and III is complete suspension in liquid. The non‐dimensional equation of the maximum particle rise height was also successfully obtained. The combination of the non‐dimensional equations of transition and maximum particle rise height permitted us to determine the adequate solid/liquid mixing operation conditions without collision of particles with device parts.